


An Ode to Broken Locks

by hjonkhjonk



Category: Glee
Genre: AU, Angst, Blangst, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Meet-Cute, Unhealthy Relationships, and he sucks pretty bad, bartender!kurt, blaine's ex is kinda a stalker, except it's not klaine dont worry, find your prompt, performer!blaine, quaranklaine, we love blangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23747677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hjonkhjonk/pseuds/hjonkhjonk
Summary: He had been having the day fromhell. He woke up to find out that his roommate Rachel had decided to move out with her current boyfriend leaving him scrambling to get someone to sublet her lease, the water had been shut off so he had to skip his usual shower, they were conveniently out of coffeeandbread so he had to rush out and stop off for fast food before his shift atMoonlight Avenueand he was already feeling gross from it,andhe just noticed they were running low on supplies, meaning that napkins were gonna be fresh out before the crowds even started pouring in and the bar was gonna be a sticky mess.He sighs, ready to top the day off with a shitty shift, when he hears someone scramble inside and slam the door closed.Oh.Ohno.---From thefind your promptevent over atquaranklaine!My prompt was Bartender!Kurt + Performance + Stuck in a closet.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60





	An Ode to Broken Locks

Kurt kicks the wood wedge firmly under the door, hoping that it holds the door open as he goes to the back shelf of the supply room to get more napkins. The door’s lock was broken, something that his manager has been putting off fixing for literal _months_ , and the only way to avoid getting locked inside was relying on the shitty little hunk of wood. He always tries to make his supply runs as quick as possible, and today was no different as he scurried between the tight towers of shelves.

He had been having the day from _hell_. He woke up to find out that his roommate Rachel had decided to move out with her current boyfriend leaving him scrambling to get someone to sublet her lease, the water had been shut off so he had to skip his usual shower, they were conveniently out of coffee _and_ bread so he had to rush out and stop off for fast food before his shift at _Moonlight Avenue_ and he was already feeling gross from it, _and_ he just noticed they were running low on supplies, meaning that napkins were gonna be fresh out before the crowds even started pouring in and the bar was gonna be a sticky mess.

He sighs, ready to top the day off with a shitty shift, when he hears someone scramble inside and slam the door closed.

Oh.

Oh _no_.

“Oh no,” he says out loud, and whoever had come into the room lets out a yelp. He winces, not intending to terrify the other occupant, but he knows that he’s hidden where he is. With another sigh, he side-shuffles back out from between the shelves, and looks up to _woah_ the most handsome man he has ever seen in his _life_ , oh sweet jesus.

The other man looks harried, running a hand over his slicked down hair and quickly shooting him a smile. “I’m so sorry,” he says, and oh my god voice like _honey_ , “my ex just showed up, I don’t even know _how_ he knew I was playing tonight,” (He? _Score._ ) “and I really just don’t want to deal with him, I’m sorry, let me get out of your hair-”

The man tries the doorknob.

Kurt huffs out a laugh as the man looks back and forth between him and the doorknob, looking confused.

“Yeah, we’re not gonna get anywhere with that lock. It’s why I had the door wedged open, yanno,” he says with an easy smile, heart melting at the horrified look overtaking the other man’s face.

“Oh my god,” he breathes, eyes wide open (wow, _hazel_ ). “Oh my god, I am so sorry-”

“Kurt”, Kurt quickly fills in, maybe a little too eagerly, and he feels his face burn up. But the other man doesn’t seem to notice, instead giving him his own shy smile.

“I’m Blaine, and I’m so sorry.” Kurt laughs again, not unkindly, and Blaine ducks his head.

Fuck. _Cute_.

“It’s fine, there’s no way you could have known, and management was supposed to deal with it months ago. Maybe once Gerald notices I’m not up front, he’ll finally do his damn job and fix it. We can just sit here and look pretty until he realizes.”

Blaine lets out a surprised laugh, and it looks like he’s finally relaxing, taking a cue from Kurt who’s taken up residence leaning against the nearest supply tower and parking beside him. “Well, I can’t start either, so I’m glad to be here with you in solidarity, even though you seem to be holding your own on the ‘pretty’ front.”

God, Kurt really hopes the dingy lighting is saving him from exposing just how much he’s blushing. He doubts it. He’s hardly ever that lucky, case in point, _every part of the day leading up until now_.

“So, your ex, huh?”

Blaine sighs, his shoulders drooping and looking at his feet. “Yeah, he’s, uh. He’s honestly pretty terrible. I should have known better than to date him, everyone told me that he was going to be horrible, but. But he seemed sweet, and funny, and kept complimenting me all the time. Turns out he was complimenting me because he was never actually _listening_ to me, just hoping that telling me I’m cute would distract from how he was treating me.”

“ _Ouch._ ”

“Yeah. He was really good at it, yanno? Good at having me believe he was something else. Enough that we moved in together.”

Blaine seems to curl into himself even more, voice going quiet. He looks so sad and defeated, and Kurt’s stomach starts to sink. He thinks he knows where this might be going. 

“That’s when. That’s when he showed what he was really like. What kind of a boyfriend he really is. But I left, I got out, so I still don’t know how he found out about tonight, and I can’t believe he’s here. I. I really, really don’t want him here.”

Kurt’s hackles rise at that, a feeling of protectiveness filling his chest.

“Blaine, if he tries anything with you tonight, anything at all, if he even _looks_ at you funny, you come straight over to me and I’ll handle it, okay? He could be here all he wants, I can’t stop him from being a customer, but I sure as hell can stop him from getting anywhere where he can hurt you. I’ll make sure of it, just. Please come to me. For _anything_ , okay?”

Blaine looks up at him, eyes shining suspiciously, and he breathes out a shaky breath. “Okay,” he whispers, and Kurt smiles at him.

“Don’t leave without an escort tonight, either. I’m serious, he won’t touch you.”

Blaine nods again, closing his eyes. He can tell that something is really wrong, but he doesn’t know the guy, won’t pry more, and he doesn’t want him to have a bad night. He’s gotta change the subject, he realizes, and lightly bumps his shoulder against Blaine’s until the man looks up at him.

“What’s your set going to be like, anyway?”

Blaine smiles gratefully up at Kurt, letting out another breath as he seems to collect himself before his smile goes mischievous. “Now, now, Kurt, usually that’s supposed to be a surprise, but I guess I can tell you, considering I got you in this predicament in the first place.” Blaine’s got a teasing glint in his eye now, the previous mood forgotten, and he winks at him. He actually _winks_. Who does that? Who is this man? Will he marry him?

But Kurt gives back as good as he gets, letting his tone go a little salacious but keeping safely silly. “Oh Blaine, are you trying to bribe me with trade secrets?”

Blaine laughs, and Kurt feels himself already getting used to the sound. _God_.

“Maybe?”

“You’re so transparent.”

“Well maybe I was trying to be.”

“Mmhm, you going to sing anything from _Chicago_ , Mr. Cellophane?”

Blaine laughs again, loud and bright. “You know what, I think I’ve changed my mind.”

“What? _No_ , I’ve earned this! We’re out of napkins and I’ve earned this!” He laughs, delighting in the way Blaine’s eyes are sparkling, even in the dim lighting.

“Fine, fine,” he sighs, “I was going to sing piano covers of some top forties songs, make them a bit more acoustic sounding. More melancholy.”

Kurt’s eyebrows raise. He would have expected something more classic, considering the way Blaine was dressed, but he is pleasantly surprised. “Crowd pleasers, but maudlin. I like it.”

“Yeah?” Blaine gives him a dazzling smile, somehow still looking hopeful despite the clear confidence.

“Yeah, and you’re definitely in the right place for _maudlin_.”

Blaine laughs again. God, Kurt needs to start keeping score.

“You’re not a big fan of working here?”

Kurt sighs, slumping a bit more. It’s bad for his posture, yadda yadda, but fuck man what a _day_.

“I actually like bartending, believe it or not. It’s fun, you meet all sorts of people from all walks of life and hear their stories. And there are the performances and events that keep everything fun, yanno?” He looks over at Blaine, giving him a soft smile. “I actually like hearing the performances, and if we ever get out of here alive-” Blaine snorts, “I would love to hear you perform.”

Blaine ducks his head with a soft smile and rubs the back of his neck, but doesn’t interrupt.

“It’s just… ever since Gerald took over after the last manager quit, this place has gone downhill. It’s become a shithole, actually, if I’m being honest. We’re always low in stock, the place is falling apart, everything is always sticky, he’s fired a bunch of staff members and left us high and dry with low staffing yet high capacity nights, it’s just…” he trails off, shrugging.

“That’s terrible,” Blaine mutters, sincerity in his tone as he looks up. “There’s gotta be somewhere else you can go, right? There are plenty of bars and clubs here.”

Kurt smiles ruefully. He’s had this conversation too many times to count, to the point of feeling contention whenever his dad, Carole, or Rachel bring it up, but there’s no way Blaine knows that. He means well, and he’s surprised at his own lack of anger towards the subject.

“The pay here is too good. It’s leftover from prior management, I’ve been here long enough and handled enough that my pay outshines what any other place quotes me. And considering my roommate has decided to move out and I’m suddenly short a roommate until I can magically whisk one out of thin air, I can’t really afford any pay cuts until I’m _sure_ I can handle any potential financial drawback.”

He looks down at his feet, lost in his thoughts for a few minutes, before he realizes that Blaine is quiet. He looks over to him and the other man is watching him, brows drawn.

“What?” Kurt asks, starting to get concerned.

Blaine lets out a sigh, then gives him a rueful smile. “Would you believe me if I told you that I’m looking to break my half of the lease of my ex’s apartment and move off of my best friend’s couch?”

Kurt’s heart stops.

“You’re shitting me.”

Blaine laughs again, then winces, hand back to smoothing over his gelled hair. “I’m really, really not.”

Kurt stares at him a few moments, thinking of all the incredibly awful ways this could go _wrong, so wrong, holy shit terribly wrong_ , but they’re getting along great, the air around them feels strangely comfortable despite the fact that they just met, and fuck it, he thinks, things have been shitty enough for long enough that what’s a risk like this gonna do?

It could all come crashing down, Blaine might turn out to be the roommate from hell, his ex might be a stalker, he might end up falling in love with Blaine and having his heart broken, maybe Blaine will find a better living situation and leave him high and dry _again_.

But.

But, maybe they could start a real friendship. Maybe even _more_ , if he’s picking up the hints between them right. Maybe this is the start of something good, something great, even.

Maybe all his stored up bad karma is finally turning to good.

“Okay.” He says, and watches as Blaine’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead, a look so hopeful painted across his face.

“What - really? You mean it?”

He smiles softly, feels his grin go a little goofy but he can’t bring himself to care when Blaine looks like that. “Yeah, Blaine, why not? Let’s get coffee soon, talk about it, figure things out?”

And god, Blaine looks like he just woke up on Christmas morning. “Yeah,” he breathes, eyes bright and wide and shining and _hopeful_. “Yeah, I’d love that.”

“Great.” Kurt smiles back at him, and he opens his mouth to say something else when the door slams open.

They both whip their heads up, and there Gerald is, looking pissed as hell.

“ _Kurt!_ The fucking front is deserted, what the hell do you think you’re doing in here, having a goddamn tea party?”

Kurt rolls his eyes, and says with a dangerously saccharine tone. “Well maybe if you fixed the fucking lock, _Gerald_ , you wouldn’t accidentally lock both me _and_ your entertainment in here.”

Gerald’s eyes widen, properly taking in Blaine, who waves and murmurs a polite, “Hello!”

The surly man sighs and pinches his nose bridge. “Alright, alright, I’ll get this fucking thing fixed.”

Before Kurt can cheer, Gerald throws a thumb over his shoulder, glaring at the two of them. “Now get out there! There are people waiting, and you-” he points at Blaine, who startles, “were supposed to start five minutes ago. Go, go!”

They both look at each other before scrambling out, Kurt ducking behind the bar while tying an apron on, and Blaine hurrying to the stage. Kurt quickly slips into bartender mode, joking around with the regulars and taking drink orders with ease. Before long, Blaine is crooning up there, making eye contact with Kurt every now and then and shooting shy smiles his way, which Kurt giddily returns. He feels a new hope building in his chest, one the likes of which he hasn’t felt in months. It feels like maybe things will start looking up again. And, he thinks, watching as Blaine gets lost in the music, fingers dancing over the piano keys and voice seeming to soothe away all of his aches, maybe he’s got the start of something beautiful, too.

Maybe, he thinks, maybe today wasn’t so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Allusions to Blaine's prior relationship with an unnamed character being unhealthy, stalker tendencies are discussed but no abuse is described - I keep it intentionally vague so that it's up to your own discretion as to how the relationship was, but still, please be careful!


End file.
